Renee Trilivas, Allure magazine
Last week, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave a speech at the Republican National Convention that created a bit of a stir. Viewers weren't offended by her political message-it was her teeth they couldn't stop talking about. Somewhere between Rice's last mirror check and arriving at the podium, it seems, she managed to smudge her berry-colored lipstick on her front teeth. Uh oh! Twitter lit up with snide comments about Rice's big beauty blunder. "I heard nothing Condi said because I was so damn distracted from her lipstick stained teeth!" wrote one self-appointed commentator.
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Thankfully, Vogue editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley jumped to Rice's defense and calm was restored. "So what," wrote Talley, "she spoke with true eloquence and raised the bar." But I couldn't help think about my own (bad) behavior. I'm not going to lie: I get as big a kick out of spotting a beauty malfunction as the next girl, and, yes, I've been known to comment on Kate Middleton's heavy eyeliner and Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas's unruly bun.
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It's not because I'm cruel or sadistic, but because I take personal appearance seriously. I enjoy the results when they're good, and when there's an obvious flaw, I feel i can point out that celebrities are still human, even with a team of professional hair and makeup artists to keep them looking good. But one thing I always do before commenting is to carefully consider my audience. Is it really necessary to discuss a slight hitch in the appearance of one of the country's most-respected stateswomen on a public platform like Twitter? Only if you want to look like a twit.
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